BJP gets a lift in battleground Telangana, wins 2 key MLC polls in strongholds

C Anji Reddy won by more than 5,000 votes in the Medak-Nizamabad-Adilabad-Karimnagar Graduates’ constituency, which had been represented till now by T Jeevan Reddy of the Congress. The Congress-backed candidate. V Narender Reddy, put up a strong fight. Anji Reddy initially did not get the required number of first-preference votes. But once the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)-backed P Harikrishna was eliminated in the following rounds of counting, the contest narrowed down to Anji Reddy and Narender Reddy.

Malka Komaraiah bagged the Medak-Nizamabad-Adilabad-Karimnagar Teachers’ constituency, defeating V Mahender Reddy of the Progressive Recognised Teachers’ Union (PRTU). Mahender Reddy had been projected by the Congress and supported by the BRS, which did not contest the elections. The third MLC seat of Warangal-Khammam-Nalgonda Teachers’ constituency went to Independent candidate P Sripal Reddy of the PRTU.

The results, however, are not a big surprise as the party has a good support base and all four parliamentary constituencies of Medak, Nizamabad, Adilabad, and Karimnagar are represented by BJP MPs. While M Raghunandan Rao is the MP from Medak, D Arvind represents Nizamabad in the Lok Sabha, Godam Nagesh is the Adilabad MP, and Union Minister of State Bandi Sanjay Kumar is the Karimnagar MP.

Congratulating the two winners, Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted on X, “I thank the people of Telangana for blessing @BJP4Telangana  with such phenomenal support in the MLC elections. Congratulations to our newly elected candidates. I am very proud of our Party Karyakartas who are working among the people with great diligence.”

“Gratitude to the people of Telangana for blessing the BJP with a thumping victory in the MLC election. Your trust inspires us to serve even harder,” Amit Shah wrote on X.

“The Medak-Nizamabad-Adilabad-Karimnagar Teachers’ and graduates’ MLC seats cover 13 districts and 42 Assembly constituencies and the victory shows the extent of support BJP enjoys. Our party’s A V N Reddy earlier won from the Mahbubnagar-Rangareddy-Hyderabad Teachers’ constituency. With the victory in these two seats, the BJP has stamped its authority in nearly 70% of Telangana. Teachers and graduates have rejected the Congress’s lies that they will do something for their welfare. They have also rejected the BRS in the last elections. They are not falling for the false promises,’’ Bandi Sanjay Kumar told The Indian Express.

According to BJP insiders, the victories show that the party continues to retain the support of teachers and graduates in the region. During the Lok Sabha polls last year, these two groups had backed the party and a massive outreach by Bandi Sanjay, Union Minister G Kishan Reddy, and other BJP MPs this time helped them win these two seats.

Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy of the Congress extensively campaigned for the MLC elections, addressing several meetings. The CM’s critics targeted him for focusing more on the MLC elections than the rescue efforts at the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel in Nagarkurnool where eight men were trapped after a portion collapsed on February 22.

Sources said the CM, Deputy CM Bhatti Mallu Vikaramarka, and senior ministers including N Uttam Kumar Reddy campaigned extensively to counter the BJP’s massive outreach effort. The CM, Congress sources said, was also reviewing the list of probable candidates for the coming MLC elections to five seats under the MLA quota. Sources in the state Congress said the party would review the results to learn the lessons for the coming MLC polls.